44 articles from SATURDAY 15.5.2021

Johnson ‘must think again on plans to relax Covid rules’

Top adviser warns of India variant impact as scientists urge delay in lockdown changesCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageBoris Johnson was under mounting pressure on Saturday to reconsider Monday’s relaxation of Covid rules in England because of the threat posed by the India variant. His own advisers and independent health experts raised fears that it could lead to a...

How to cure type 2 diabetes – without medication

It can be debilitating and last a lifetime, but type 2 diabetes, if caught early, can be reversed with weight lossIt’s 10 years since Professor Roy Taylor revolutionised treatment for type 2 diabetes with a groundbreaking study that showed the disease could be reversed through rapid weight loss. Until his research was published, type 2 diabetes was thought to be an incurable, lifelong condition....

Coronavirus: England to continue lockdown easing despite India variant fears; Taiwan raises Covid alert; Australia runs first repatriation flight from India

China cancels spring Everest climbing season from Tibetan side while Portugal to reopen to UK tourists from MondayTaiwan records 180 new cases in island’s worst Covid outbreak Who: vaccinate vulnerable global poor before children in rich countriesIndia variant could disrupt lifting of England lockdown, says Boris JohnsonHow a proudly multicultural country became ‘fortress Australia’ 4.50pm...

Mixed messages: is research into human-monkey embryos ethical?

Biologists recently created a chimera with both human and monkey cells. But not all scientists are happy to blur species boundariesWhen King Minos of Crete was given a magnificent bull by the sea god Poseidon for a sacrifice, he could not bring himself to kill it. In anger, Poseidon enchanted Minos’s wife Pasiphaë to be filled with lust for the creature. The result of their trans-species mating...

Fibre-optics used to take the temperature of Greenland Ice Sheet

Scientists have used fibre-optic sensing to obtain the most detailed measurements of ice properties ever taken on the Greenland Ice Sheet. Their findings will be used to make more accurate models of the future movement of the world's second-largest ice sheet, as the effects of climate change continue to accelerate.

Simple surgery prevents strokes in heart patients

The study tracked 4,811 people in 27 countries who are living with atrial fibrillation and taking blood thinners. Consenting patients undertaking cardiopulmonary bypass surgery were randomly selected for the additional left atrial appendage occlusion surgery; their outcomes compared with those who only took medicine. They were all followed for a median of four years.

New cyanobacteria species spotlights early life

Cyanobacteria first evolved to perform photosynthesis about 2.4 billion years ago, pumping tons of oxygen into the atmosphere - a period known as the Great Oxygenation Event - which enabled the evolution of multicellular life forms. Researchers have discovered a new species of cyanobacteria, Anthocerotibacter panamensis, which could help illuminate how photosynthesis evolved to create the world as...

Is Beef the new coal? Climate-friendly eating is on the rise

Eleven Madison Park, a top Manhattan restaurant, is going meatless. The Epicurious cooking site stopped posting new beef recipes. The Culinary Institute of America is promoting "plant-forward" menus. Dozens of colleges, including Harvard and Stanford, are shifting toward "climate-friendly" meals.

A starfish is born: hope for key species hit by gruesome disease

US team succeeds in captive breeding of sunflower sea stars and aims to reintroduce them to the wildScientists in a San Juan Island laboratory in Washington state have successfully raised sunflower sea stars, or starfish, in captivity for the first time, in an effort to help save these charismatic ocean creatures from extinction.Sunflower sea stars, whose colours vary widely, can grow as big as a...